Charlotte
Charlotte, Heir of''' of Merva, is Elodie's cousin and best friend, daughter of Lucille and Laurent, and older sister of Emry and Zahra. She appears briefly at the start of the game, and may appear a few times more depending on events. She hides a few secrets, though not with malicious intentions. Unfortunately for her, she's at the center of much darker plots... '''Spoiler Warning: ''Plot details follow, read at your own risk'' Involvement Week 1 Charlotte and her family arrive to the palace. Elodie has the chance to talk to her this and the next week as a weekend activity. Week 3 A poisonous snake will attack Elodie and Charlotte in the gardens. Depending on you skill checks and whether or not Julianna is staying at the palace, the snake will bite Elodie, Charlotte, or be disposed of safely. If the snake bites Elodie, this will reveal Charlotte's powers and unlock future events, while Charlotte being bitten might cast suspicion on her family. Either way, no matter what the result of the snake attack is, the Merva family will leave the palace at the end of the week. Week 4 If Charlotte was poisoned the week before, Elodie will muse on it. Passing a Poison >40 check will have Elodie remarking that those kind of bites are often lethal, making her suspicious, while failing the check will simply have her attributing her cousin's safety to a guardian angel. Week 8 If you pass a Meditation >80 visit your magic tutor during the weekend you learn something about Lumen and if Charlotte healed Elodie during Week 3, Elodie will deduce that Charlotte's mother may be a Lumen. This allowing you to confront Lucille during Week 17 regardless of skill checks; she may face an assassin during Week 16. Week 28 If Elodie used her powers during Week 17, Charlotte will be at the party. If Lucille is alive and Charlotte didn't heal you on Week 3, -1 Lonely, and if Charlotte did heal you there won't be a mood change; if you killed Lucille in self-defense, Charlotte will scream at Elodie to stay away, +1 Depressed. Week 37 If you performed a magic ritual during Week 35, a sea monster will rise to attack Nova. You magic tutor will give you the options to seal it in a long and costly ritual, or sacrifice a young Lumen to pacify it. If Elodie knows that Charlotte has magic powers, she can be chosen as a sacrifice by passing a Cruelty >10 check or if Elodie had to deal with her treacherous family. If you do so, and Lucille is alive, be prepared to face a vengeful mother next week. Week 38 If Joslyn is dead, and Elodie doesn't suspect the Merva family of treachery, they will arrive at the palace to comfort her, though there won't be any dialogue with Charlotte at this time. Epilogues Charlotte is the subject of multiple epilogues concerning her Lumen status, her mother's actions and Elodie's own actions: * If Lucille is the Lumen Minister, and Elodie obtained a spare Lumen crystal, she will requisition it for Charlotte. If the crystal is Togami's, she will successfully link it thanks to Elodie's resonance, but if the crystal is from the murderer of Week 20 she won't be able to link it. * If Lumen Approval worsens, and Charlotte becomes a Lumen, she will use her powers to save a dying boy in Mead, and a mob will attempt to drown both her and the boy for it. Charlotte is saved, but becomes paranoid, and it takes years for her to even consider leaving Merva again. * If Elodie ordered her family banished, Laurent will be found murdered some time later and the rest of the family disappears from Nova. If Elodie ordered Lucille executed, Charlotte and her family will permanently resent the former. If Elodie ordered both parents executed, Charlotte and her siblings are given in the care of distant relatives until she comes of age, and her relationship with Elodie is permanently scarred. If Elodie ordered the entire family executed, she dies alongside the rest of her family, and the succession crisis fuels a Mervan rebellion. * If Elodie killed Lucille in self defense, and hired Sabine as a spy, the latter will find a decode Lucille's secret documents detailing her plots against the royal family and her ambitions of power. With her mother's true nature revealed, Charlotte and her family start to forgive Elodie. * If Elodie had Laurent imprisoned or executed, and then betrays Nova to Togami, Charlotte will become heir to the throne of Nova. Given their past experiences with a child queen, and rumors that Charlotte herself possesses dark magic, the nobility rebels against the new queen, and Nova descends into a civil war. Personality Charlotte is a genuinely sweet, kind-hearted girl who loves her family and adores her older cousin Elodie. She is very selfless and cannot stand idle if she sees people in danger, as seen during two of the outcomes of the snake attack and one low-Lumen Approval epilogue, where Charlotte saves a dying boy with her magic, revealing her powers to the hateful public. She is completely oblivious to her mother's manipulations, and loves her very much. If Elodie kills Lucille it will permanently scar her relationship with Charlotte, unless it was in self-defense and Lucille's journals are discovered and decoded, then Charlotte will forgive her cousin. As one may expect from the nature of this game, her selfless personality may easily bring ruin to poor Charlotte. Abilities Charlotte has inherited some healing powers from her mother (and possibly her father's lineage) despite not being a fully realized Lumen herself. She hides her powers at her mother's instruction. Under certain conditions, Charlotte will obtain a Lumen crystal (specifically, Togami's crystal) and become a true Lumen; she will not, however, be able to become a Lumen with the murderer's crystal, since the "resonance" of said crystal clashes greatly with Charlotte's nature. Even without a crystal, she is capable of nullifying venom within Elodie's body. As a Lumen, Charlotte is as a Lumen capable of healing an almost-dead boy. She lacks any type of aggressive magic, possibly a reflection of her own personality. Trivia * Her eye color is similar to Togami's. This may foreshadow one of the epilogues, where Charlotte inherits his Lumen crystal. * If Charlotte is bitten saving Elodie, and the latter passes a Poison check during Week 4, she will note that small doses of venom can grant temporal resistance, explaining why Charlotte survived the snake's bite. It's possible that Lucille did so as a security measure for her plan. However, considering Charlotte's powers are obviously able to reverse the snake's bite, as seen if Elodie is bitten, this wouldn't be necessary and may be a false lead. * Elodie calls her by the diminutive "Lottie"; she's the only character seen doing so. * It's likely that Lucille has been training Charlotte on how to use her powers, as the latter is one of the only two potential Lumens seen to have a degree of control on her powers, the other is an Elodie trained in Meditation (who, even then, has a much weaker grasp than Charlotte). ** This is corroborated by certain epilogues if Lucille is killed during week 17, stating Lucille trained her in mediation in preparation for receiving a crystal (unbeknownst to her Elodie's) Etymology Charlotte is a female given name, diminutive of the male name Charles which has varied meanings such as "strong and virile", "vigorous" and "free man", while in feminine form it can also mean "petite". Keeping with the astrological naming trend in the game, Charlotte is also the name of a minor planet orbiting the Sun, and has the same French origin as Lucille's, Laurent's, and Elodie's names.Category:Lumen